Improvement in baggage-checks



UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE@ G. O. THOMAS, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN BAGGAGE-CHECKS.

To all/whom it may concern Be it known that I, Gr. C. THOMAS, ofBrooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented anew and Improved Baggage-Check; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full and exact description thereof, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference markedthereon.

My invention consists of a baggage check made by preparing one or moremetallic disks furnished with openings and suitable inscriptions, which,together with the strap with which said check is secured to the trunk orother article, enable me to indicate clearly and distinctly either theplace to which the baggage should go or the place from which it comes,or both. I am also enabled, by the peculiar construction of the check,to use it as a return-check between any two stations or places which maybe indicated by the inscriptions on its faces; and in' the case ot' oneof the forms of my improved check it may be so used between any two ofninety-nine stations, or, by a slight modification easily made andhereinafter described, of one hundred and ninety-nine.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a,front elevation of athrough-check made according to my improved plan. Fig. 2 is a side oredge View of the same. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the check which isgiven to the owner ot' the trunk or other article to which the partshown in Figs. land 2 is attached. Fig. 4 is a back view of amodification of my check, intended to be used as a way-check. Fig. 5 isa front elevation of the same. Fig. 6 is a front elevation of thecorresponding check for the passenger. Fig. 7 is a front elevation ofanother modiiication of my check. Fig. S is a back elevation ofthe same.Fig. 9 is a front elevation of the corresponding check for thepassenger. Fig. 10 is afront elevation of the plate shown in Fig. 4.

The check represented in Figs. l, 2, and 3 is intended to be used as athrough-check, and may be so used between any two of the placescontained on the disk. It consists of three plates or disks, A, B, andC, strap D, and rivet E. rIhe plates are secured to each other by therivet E in such a manner that they may move independently of each aroundthe common axis. The rivet E furnishes a means of securing the strapD tothe check. rIhe plates A and C have upon their faces the names ofplaces, as seen at the left in Fig. 3, and the openings in the plates AIand B are so placed that but one naine at a time can be seen on. eitherplate when openings at a for the strap coincide.

By withdrawing the strap from the openings at c, the plate B may bemoved on the face ofthe plate A, thus bringing either ofthe names on theface 0f the plate A in sightfor example, Chicago to,77 as seen in Fig.l. This indicates that the baggage comes from Chicago. Now move theplate C without changing the relative positions of A and B until thename of the place to which the baggage is going appears in the openingin the plate A, as New York,77 for example. When this is done put thestrap D through the opening a, and secure it to the trunk or otherarticle, and give the check shown in Fig. 3 to the owner. The number onthis check (3,952) corresponds with that on the face of the check Fig.l, and

enables the owner of the baggage to reclaim it. The other checks shownin the drawings are merely modifications of the above and are intendedto be used as Way-checks Where the various stations on a single road aredesignated by numbers, as is the practice at present.

Fig. 5 represents a check consisting of two disks, G and H, 011e ofwhich, G, contains openings,as seen, the initials of the road, andnumber of the check, while the other, H, is made with a greater numberof openings, as seen in Figs. 4 and l0, and the numbers of the stations,one side containing the numbers from l to 10, inclusive, and the otherthose from l1 to 20, inclusive.

The number of the station being placed opposite the opening at b-as l2,for examplethe strap D is put through the opening in the center of thecheck, and then back through the opening at d, which secures the disksin their proper relative positions.

Fig. 7 represents another modification of my check, in which I employthree disks, the larger one being in the middle and numbered on itsmargin from 0 to 9,inclusive, said numbers representing units, and theother two disks being numbered in a similar manner, said numbersrepresenting tens.

To operate this check the strap D is withdrawn from the openings, andthe plate L is revolved about the common axis until the station requiredis indicated by the gures 56, for example, which we will suppose is thestation the baggage starts from. Now turn the check over and revolve theplate K about the common axis until the numberof the station to whichthe baggage should go is indicated- 48, for example-then put the strap Dthrough the opening above 56 on the back and below 48 on the front ofthe check, when the check is ready to be fastened to the baggage.

By this check I am enabled to indicate from whence baggage comes, and towhat station it should go, up to ninety-nine stations. By still furthermodification I make the plate K reversible, the same as the plate H, andfurnish one side of it with numbers from 10 to 19, inclusive, saidnumbers representing tens and hundreds. In this case but two platesshould be used; but with these two any station from one to one hundredand ninety-nine may be indicated as that to which the baggage should go.

The advantages which I claim for my check over those in common use are:a great saving in the iirst cost of supplying a road with checks, as butfew comparatively would be required; a great saving of time and trouble,as my check could be used at any point of the road, and it would not benecessary to send each check to some particular station before it couldbe again used, and greater certainty, since the check itself indicatesthe place to which the baggage should go, and we do not then have todepend on chalk-marks, which are liable to be rubbed out.

Having thus fully described my invention and the manner in which it maybe usefully employed, I claim- The baggage-check described, consistingof two or more disks furnished with suitable openings andii'lscriptions, which, together with the strap D, indicates either theplace from which the baggage comes and to which it should go, or onlythe place to which it should go, in the manner hereinabove set forth, orin any manner substantially the same.

G. C. THOMAS.

NVitnesses:

G. F. THOMAS, H. JAMEs WESTON.

